Bus Éireann city bus services

Fare zone change and distance-based fares

Bus Éireann's Galway city zone is now extended to cover Barna and Oranmore. The "red zone" now covers the area shown in this map:

However there is now a two-tier fare on all city services, with a higher price applying to all journeys longer than 7.5km, no matter what route they are on.

No guidance has been published about which journeys are longer than 7.5km as yet, but some initial research shows that

Route 402 from Knocknacarra Church to Eyre Square is 7.3km

Route 402 from Eyre Square to Merlin Park hospital is 6.2km.

Route 403 from Eyre Square to Briarhill Business Park is 7.1km, and to Parkmore business parks is 7.75km

Route 404

From Newcastle to Eyre Square is 4.7km, and to Flannery's hotel is 7.7km.

From Eyre Square to Galway Clinic is 6.4km

From Galway Clinic to Oranmore astroturf is 4.8km

From Oranmore SuperValu, via the astroturf to Galway clinic is 7.0km

Route 405 from the Knocknacarra (B&Q) terminus to Mervue church is 7.5km.

Route 407 from Eyre Square to the terminus at Bóthar an Choiste is 5.3km

Route 409 from Eyre Square to Dunnes Stores Briarhill is 7.4km, and to Briarhill Business Park is 7.9km.

These values were measured by tracing the routes on Google Maps - they are not official distances.

It's not yet clear if the city bus ticket machines will have official distances measured between stops meaning that all passengers will have to tell the driver their destination, or if passengers will be responsible for saying which fare they need to pay.

Fares paid with a Leap card - single journeys

Adult fare stays at €1.61, for journeys up to 7.5km

Adult fare increases to €1.89 for journeys over 7.5km: this is a 17% increase on some routes

Fares paid with cash - single journeys

Adult fare increases from €2.20 to €2.30, an increase of 4.5%, for journeys up to 7.5km .

Adult fare increases to €2.70 for journeys over 7.5km: this is a 22% increase on some routes

School-child stays at €1.10 for all journeys

Child fare increases from €1.25 to €1.30, an increase of 4% for journeys up to 7.5km .

Child fare increases to €1.60 for journeys over 7.5km: this is an increase of 28% on some routes

Day Passes

Adult from €4.50 to €4.70, an increase of 4.4%.

Child day-tickets are introduced from 1 December 2017, costing €2.60.

Note:

If these tickets are purchased from the driver using a Leap card then they are valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase.

If they are purchased using cash, they are only valid for the calendar day.

There is no student one-day ticket - but students are welcome to purchase the adult one-day ticket.

Weekly tickets

Adult increases from €20.50 to €21.00 an increase of 2.4%

Student from €17.00 to €16.70, a decrease of 1.8%

Child from €8.90 to €9.50, an increase of 6.7%

Monthly tickets

Adult from €71 to €74.00, an increase of 4.2%

Student from €57 to €59.00, an increase of 3.5%

Child from €33 to €35, an increase of 6.1%

Annual tickets (including Tax-saver)

Adult: from €759.70 to €777, an increase of 2.3%

There are no annual student or child fares.

The fare-increases document says that day, weekly, monthly and annual ticket prices are for the Red Zone - it does not make a distinction between journeys longer or shorter than 7.5km.

Bus Éireann regional and commuter buses

Leap cards will be accepted on all regional buses by mid 2018, and Leap fares will be 30% less than the cash fare for the journey.

Some fares on regional bus services are changing: the amount depends on the distance travelled, and the type of ticket used.

Adult single journeys up to 5km long will all cost the same as a city-zone short fare, ie €2.30 cash or €1.61 with a Leap card.

Other adult single tickets be reduced, by up to 15% for longer journeys and by between 3% - 4% for shorter ones.

Adult return and day-return fares will increase by an average of 1.7% - but the actual change is between a decrease 7.7% for some tickets, and a 5.9% increase for others.

Child and student return tickets: No increases, some decreases of up to 4.3%

10 Journey (adult, student or child) tickets - some decreases by up to 5.8%, and some increases by up to 4.6% - with an average increase of 1.1%.

Other bus companies

The private companies providing city and regional bus services in Galway do not receive any Government subsidy, so their fares are not approved by the National Transport Authority, and have not been announced as yet.

However some of them are likely to increase their fares at approximately the same time as Bus Éireann.

Iarnród Éireann / Irish Rail - train fare changes

Intercity express single fares for zone D and longer are reduced by about 5%.

Return fares on the expressway services increase by around 1.2%

Student single and return intercity fares increase by between 0.0% and 2.3%